Welcome to Tokyo

August 9, 2015

This morning was our last day in Okinawa. We had an early flight so we left the guesthouse early in the morning to make the drive back. When we returned the car back to the rental shop, I was so relieved. Made it back in one piece! The last few days in Okinawa has been really fun and I'm SO thankful God kept the rain away for us during our stay. I would hope that I would be able to come back to visit Okinawa again. If I actually do get to come back, I think choosing one of the smaller islands would be better to visit.

We arrived back in Kansai around noon today. It wasn't completely time to relax as we were heading to Tokyo in just a few hours. I have a tendency to super pack days when planning. I just want to be as time efficient as possible! So this afternoon I planned to take the Shinkansen (or bullet train) to Tokyo. I had never taken the shinkansen before and wanted to share the experience with my family. It is a very common way to travel in Japan but is also probably the most expensive. A one way trip to Tokyo is about 15,000 yen (which is a little under $150 usd). Even though it is costly, it is the most time efficient way to travel! Taking the shinkansen gets to you Tokyo in about 2.5 hours! That beats the 7 hour night bus any day! So around 5 this afternoon we boarded our shinkansen and got comfortable for the trip. On the train, the boys slept mostly and me and my sisters played card games as well as got ready for the evening. We would be meeting my friends as soon as we got into the city so here would be little time to get changes or do make up. It is so great having my sisters here because they just do my hair and make up for me!!!

Arriving at nearly 8pm, we found our way to our lodging. I had booked a room for the five of us in the Shinjuku area. Josh was in  seperate hotel because of late bookings. The room that the rest of us had was nice. The bathroom was the biggest bathroom i had ever seen in a Japanese hotel! It was huge!! I'm sure many people's bedroom was the size of this bathroom. Once we all got a little bit of rest, I messaged my friend Toshi to see where we should get together. I met Toshi a few months back when I came to visit my friend Susan. Toshi is Susan's boyfriend and even though Susan is currently back in Australia, I still try to keep in touch and see Toshi.

We met up with Toshi and another friend Jack at Shinjuku Station. From there, we were all starved so Toshi and Jack walked us to a common izakaya they often go to. We learn that this place had really cheap beer so it made sense to go there. Everyone was enjoying beer, food, and conversing. Toshi and Jack were really sweet in giving me a birthday present! It was really unexpected but really thoughtful. They even decorated the bag they put the gift in, which was a pen that looked like a long bullet. Thanks guys!

After the first place, we decided to switch up the scene and go to another bar. I don't know Toyko well so I kept saying we should just go to a bar that looked good. We ended up in HUB. Hub is a foreigner's bar that is also a chain. They have many of them in Osaka as well. HUB is convenient because everyone pays for your drink as you order so there is no mix up with the bill at the end. The first HUB we went into, my sister ordered a super tall beer and Jack ordered some really strong shots. It was really funny to see everyone getting pretty lit. I stuck to easy going drinks. I wasn't trying to get super hyped. I'm not sure why some of the guys were so antsy but after sitting at the HUB for maybe ten minutes, they wanted to change locations again! So we headed to the streets walking around only to go to ANOTHER HUB!!! I personally don't like these establishments but wasn't going to argue especially when I don't know of another place.

By the time we got to the second HUB, alot of the group was already feeling tispier than expected. With the last train time approaching, we had to get headed back to our hotels. I really enjoyed seeing Toshi and Jack tonight. It is really nice to be able to see old friends and pick up where you left off. This is only the first night in Tokyo! Toshi said that the clubs are really good on Monday so I am looking forward to that tomorrow night as I've never gone clubbing in Tokyo before!!





xx
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